Innovation in medicine is speeding ahead, but Britain is too slow on the uptake

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NICE should adopt a more pragmatic approach akin to that of the European medicines regulator, says Jonathan Emms

Last updated at 11:33PM, August 29 2013

The Government’s ambition to tackle some of the most feared diseases is under
threat. Medical knowledge is advancing at extraordinary speed. We now
understand human DNA like never before. We can devise medicines to target
specific strains of disease. This was not possible a few years ago.

It opens up the possibility of tackling diseases such as cancer, heart disease
and dementia in a way we could only dream of in the past.

But the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is blocking
the innovations that scientists are discovering. Last year it turned down 40
per cent of

It is understandable that the construction of an air-polluting,
noise-blighting £22 billion third runway to turn Heathrow into the world’s
pre-eminent superhub caught the eye, but the Davies report into airport
expansion also made another radical suggestion: that — third runway or not —
Heathrow should start acting like the UK hub that it pretends to be